


Change is the Only Constant

by bees_stories



Category: Doctor Who, Sapphire and Steel, Torchwood
Genre: AU, Angst, Crossover, Drama, Jack's Missing Years, Jack's missing two years, M/M, Near Death, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-01
Updated: 2012-06-01
Packaged: 2017-11-06 13:24:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/419390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bees_stories/pseuds/bees_stories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: After kicking around the Universe for four centuries, give or take a decade or so, Jack wasn't sure that a missing two years mattered very much. Some unconventional therapy, a visit by the Doctor, and the reappearance of two mentors from his days with the Time Agency made him realise he'd never been more wrong about anything in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Change is the Only Constant

***

_  
Jack stood in the Circle of Judgement. He kept his back straight and his head held high, even though he wanted nothing more than to abase himself at the feet of the men and women who were about to decide his fate._

_They had put their confidence in him, and he hadn't measured up._

_A man dressed in a metallic grey suit and a woman whose flowing, sapphire blue dress matched her eyes, stepped forward. The man stared at him with a gaze as cold as his code name. The woman smiled kindly, and to Jack that cut even more sharply than his disapproval._

_It was the woman who spoke. "You've been an exemplary Time Agent. Your service record demonstrated great courage and a cool head. Your bravery and your pragmatism were what brought you to the attention of the Corps of Transuranic Elements. We had great hopes for you."_

_Jack wanted to believe they had changed their minds and he was going to be given a second chance. But he knew better. The Corps of Transuranic Elements was the absolute pinnacle of the Time Agency. It was the posting every agent aspired to, but only a very few were chosen. Their standards were rigorous and uncompromising. They had to be. The fate of the Universe literally depended on them._

_"I'm sorry." The woman stepped closer and put her hand on Jack's shoulder. She gave him a sad smile. Jack wanted to drop his gaze, but her eyes commanded his attention. He fell into their depths and everything went black._

***

The mattress beneath him jerked with such force it rattled the bed frame. Ianto opened his eyes and a room full of grey, pre-dawn light came slowly into focus. He glanced over. Jack was twitching in his sleep. His lips moved, but he didn't speak. Ianto sighed and got out of bed. "Jack." Ianto leaned forward and carefully jostled his partner's shoulder. "Jack!" he repeated more loudly.

On Jack's bedside table there stood a pale yellow candle in a burnished brass holder and a small ceramic dish of water. They both rested on a carved wooden tray. Feeling a bit foolish, Ianto muttered the words taught to him by Jack's healer as he lit the candle's wick and broke a packet of herbs over the resultant amber flame. The phrasing of the prayer and the ancient tongue was tricky for one used to non click based languages, and Ianto was forced to enunciate each syllable carefully lest he get it wrong. He'd only been careless once, and once was enough. Rituals, even healing rituals, weren't something he could take lightly. Not when Jack's well-being depended on it. 

The dried bits of leaf and seed crackled and sparked, releasing a pungent scent onto the air. He breathed deeply of the fumes and focused his Intention, willing Jack when he woke to find greater enlightenment.

It was part of Jack's therapy. On Earth it would have been considered unconventional, even ridiculous. But on Ras Vala, the planet they currently called home, the healing arts were an odd blend of hard science and the mystical. A doctor might as easily order a scan as throw a set of bird bones to determine a course of treatment. Though it all seemed a bit rubbish to his practical Welsh mind, Ianto couldn't deny the result. Jack woke far more peacefully than he had when his reoccurring dreams first started, and with every repetition, he retained a little more information. 

Jack's eyelids flew open. His gaze darted around the room as he sat up, and then just as abruptly, he sank back against his pillow. 

Reassured his nose wouldn't be met with a flying fist, Ianto got back into bed and snuggled against the residual warmth. He hugged his knees against his chest and waited. 

Eventually, Jack spoke. "I had the dream again." He pushed a hand over his face and then he shook his head. "Why? Why after all this time am I remembering this now?" 

"Tell me," Ianto said. He scooted closer and offered his arm. Jack leaned into his embrace and rested his head against Ianto's shoulder. That was a good sign. The first time Jack had the dream he'd refused to speak of it and had fallen into a black and brooding mood. He'd left the house without speaking, disappeared for hours, and when Ianto finally got worried enough to search for him, he'd found his partner standing on top of a high bluff, staring down into the sea as if he wished it would reach up and swallow him.

Jack took a deep breath of the scented air as he closed his eyes. He took several moments to centre as he'd been instructed before he spoke. "Same set up. Dark room. Me at the centre of the circle under a white spotlight. I could sense the others around me, but I couldn't see them. Same speech: I held great promise, but that wasn't enough. But this time – " 

Jack took a slow breath through his nose, held the air in his lungs and then released it very slowly through pursed lips. "I saw them, Ianto. My mentors. A woman and a man. I remember their names! Sapphire and Steel. Code names," he explained when Ianto's expression became confused. "Sapphire. She was the one who delivered the judgement. She was the one who stole my memories." He opened his eyes and wiped away tears. "She didn't want to do it. But they gave her no choice." 

Ianto rubbed slow, soothing circles over Jack's back. A feeling grew as light began to spill into the room signalling the beginning of a new day. They'd spent ten years on Ras Vala, living simply off the proceeds of decades spent working as mercenaries, but he sensed that the pleasant interval was about to come to an end. 

He kissed Jack's temple and then got out of bed. They couldn't get coffee in this sector of space, but the local alternative ziv ziv, was just as eye opening as a cup of finest Kenya dark roast. He ground the seeds and boiled a pot of water, and as he prepared breakfast he wondered how many days it would be take before Jack decided he needed to hunt down the mysterious Sapphire and Steel.

***

The Doctor was lonely.

It was the way of his life. Companions came. Companions went. When he got bored of his own company and he ran across a person with the right sort of potential, he'd tempt them with promises of adventures and excitement, and for a little while the Universe was their playground, and boredom was kept at bay. 

Unfortunately, his companions were seldom unintelligent. A bit naïve some of them, perhaps, but they all knew that life in the TARDIS wasn't just fairy lights and candy floss, sometimes it was dangerous. But then again, for most of his guests, living on the edge was half the fun. 

His last companion had pleaded a pressing engagement and practically begged to be dropped off even though she was far from her own place and time. He supposed he understood. After a string of mishaps that defied the laws of probability, even he was starting to dream of the quiet life. Of home and journey's end. Except he had no home other than the TARDIS. He was the eternal traveller. 

Maybe it was time to look up old friends. It'd been at least fifty years since he'd checked in with Jack. Surely that was long enough for old misunderstandings to cool. "Water under the bridge." The Doctor nodded and rubbed his hands together. He glanced at the main console. He might not know where Jack was, but the TARDIS always seemed to. 

The Doctor stroked the control panel lovingly as he communed with his ship.

***

"You're sure this is a good idea?"

Jack regarded the sweat lodge with a doubtful expression. Ianto gave him a gentle shove forward. Their eyes locked in silent conflict. Jack sighed. He'd agreed to do this. Ianto wanted him to do this. His healer Masofilo promised the treatment would end the reoccurring dreams. But he wasn't sure. 

Masofilo gave him an encouraging nod that set the longs strings of metal beads around her neck jangling, but still he hesitated. It wasn't that he didn't trust the old woman's advice. She hadn't led him wrong yet. But after a life that had spanned four centuries, give or take a decade or so, he wasn't sure that two missing years mattered very much. At least not any more.

The healer tipped her head towards the stone portal. She rarely spoke, other than to explain the rituals she insisted her patients undergo. Mostly she preferred to let her patients do the talking. Everything about her, from her warm brown eyes and kind smile to body language that invited others to unburden themselves, engendered trust and confidence that Masofilo would make things better.

Part of her gift, Jack knew, was empathy. She eased into her patients' minds as they spoke, experiencing all the pain and discontent that filled their dreams with phantoms and their days with hopelessness and took it onto herself. The other part of her gift was, as far as he could figure, pure witchcraft. She was renowned for her skill with the herbs and candles that made him feel by turns calm and sharp, and gave him the ability to pick out the real memories from the fantastic images that haunted his sleep. 

"The time in isolation will free your mind and set your feet on the correct path." She cocked her head. Her wizened features crinkled and the third eye in the centre of her forehead blinked rapidly. "Curious. I sense you will not be alone after all. Ianto." She beckoned him forward. Your presence is required."

"Me?" 

Jack chuckled. In the blink of an eye, Ianto's expression had gone from that of a stern parent who felt they needed to deal with a resistant child, to that of the child unwilling to take his medicine. He held out his hand. "Come on, Tiger. What's good for the gander, is just as good for the other gander." 

Ianto scowled back at him. He swung his hand in an 'after you' gesture, but Jack caught it out of the air and dropped it over his shoulder, forcing Ianto to shuffle into the sweat house after him. 

"Mmm, steamy." Jack stripped out of his robe and spread it onto the slatted wood bench, and then sprawled naked on top of it. He turned to Ianto and saw his partner was busy stripping out of his boots and britches as quickly as he could. "Still think this is a good idea?" Ianto's reply was muffled by the loose cotton shirt he pulled over his head. "Sorry, didn't catch that." 

After barely a minute, they were both dripping with perspiration. Jack glanced around and saw a large bulbous vessel with a ladle hanging off the side. Ianto noticed it as he dropped his shirt onto the bench. He filled the ladle and drank deeply before filling it a second time and passing it over to Jack. "I said, if it helps you, I'm happy." 

Jack smiled. Even after centuries together, Ianto's devotion was still absolute. But he couldn't resist teasing a little. "That's not what your face said when Masofilo made this a party of two." 

The composition of the steam changed from pure water vapour to something medicinal smelling. It filled the chamber in lavender clouds, and intensified the heat. Ianto blotted sweat from his face with the back of his hand and then collapsed onto the bench next to Jack. "Silly, I know, but these sorts of places make me claustrophobic." He took a very deliberate breath. "Just give me a minute." 

He closed his eyes. Jack frowned. He reached over and traced the outline of their touchstone. Though it had been well over two centuries since Ianto had been inked, the tattoo still stood out against his skin as brightly as it had done when it was new. Jack couldn't remember that last time Ianto had it touched up, and wondered as he traced the heart, the nautical star, and their initials twined into an anchor, if it was because of the transfers of life giving energy he'd shared. 

From somewhere, Jack heard the hiss of water hitting hot rocks. The smell of herb infused steam filled his nose and made his head spin. He closed his eyes as he'd been instructed, and gave himself over to the experience. He had no fear. Ianto was there, grounding him and keeping him safe. Jack let his mind go free and his thoughts wandered along the path that led to the distant days of his youth.

***

As a young man he hadn't been called Jack. But he was Jack now, and as he looked back on his younger self, he thought the name suited him much better than the one he'd been born with.

He shook his head and smiled grimly as he remembered his early years. He'd lost his family on Boeshane and then gone to war as a scared, green boy where he'd seen horrors he couldn't imagine. He'd learned to swallow his fear, and he'd grown up fast. His tour of duty had hardened him, and when he was finally discharged with stars on his sleeve and medals on his chest, he had left the idealism of boyhood along with his dead friends on the battlefield.

Like thousands of others he made the effort to return to civilian life. He put in a stint as a surrogate and lived with a nice couple who'd welcomed him into their lives and into their bed. He'd almost been happy, but his restless nature had got the better of him, and he signed up for the Time Agency as soon as he'd healed enough from the birth to pass the physical. 

He was young, handsome, and on the make for the next big adventure, and he didn't care where that took him. He loved often and carelessly, but never deeply, because war had taught him that it hurt less to lose a lover when his heart wasn't involved. 

He'd thrived at the Time Agency, going from one accomplishment to the next. He'd even tamed John Hart, the wildest, most incorrigible agent ever to drive a partner crazy.

Good times. 

He and John had come back from a mission. A tough one. They'd been caught up in a time loop. His Commander had decided it would be best for them both if they were reassigned. 

Jack's memory went hazy. Something had happened. He'd ended up in front of that tribunal and then been kicked to the kerb. 

He breathed steam and imagined his mind as a room full of doorways. He went from one to the next testing latches, looking for the one that was locked. He found it in a shadowy recess. Just touching the knob made him feel cold inside, but he knew he was on the right track. 

Jack considered kicking it in. But he knew if he just looked … 

There was a key in his trouser pocket, which was a bit of a surprise considering he had been naked only a moment before. He fitted the key into the lock.

It stuck. 

He jiggled.

The key turned and Jack stepped through.

***

 _  
Report to the Transuranic Corps for evaluation._

_The order stunned him like a blow between the eyes. Jack stared at the message screen in complete disbelief._

_It was the order about which every ambitious Time Agent dreamed. They were the elite. Their skills were the stuff that made up barracks' tales. The training the Transuranic Elements received could blow your mind wide open, and if you survived it, propel you to psi levels not even the holovid makers could imagine. It was rumoured, unlike the rest of the Time Agents who got around by vortex manipulator, the Transuranic Elements could travel across time and space by the power of their minds alone._

_And _they_ wanted _him_ to join their ranks.  
_

***

Ianto breathed steam that smelled of pine woods and memories. Once the initial claustrophobia had passed, he eased out from Jack's embrace and filled a container he hadn't noticed the first time with more water before resuming his spot on the bench.

He glanced over at Jack and found him much the same as he'd been before. He seemed to have entered a meditative state. His head was bowed, chin tucked against his chest. His eyes were open, but focused inward. He'd fallen under the influence of Masofilo's magic almost as soon as the scented steam filled the chamber. At regular intervals his chest expanded as he inhaled more steam and then contracted very slowly, as he let it out again. 

Ianto didn't quite understand. When Masofilo had ordered him into the sweat lodge, he thought he'd end up tripping along with Jack, sharing his drug dreams, or maybe even having a few of his own. But he was clear headed and lucid, and it seemed the only effect the treatment was having was opening his pores so that he perspired freely, and causing him to cough from the bottom of his lungs, which seemed to help clear them of the lingering effects of a persistent respiratory infection that had plagued him for the better part of a lunar turn. 

With nothing better to do, Ianto tipped his head back against the rock wall behind him, shifted a bit more comfortably on the slatted wood bench, and waited.

***

 _  
Jack stepped through another doorway. He stood for a moment as suppressed memories flooded his brain and left him feeling stunned._

_This was his training room. It wasn't a classroom. It wasn't the dungeon where Time Agents were taught to resist interrogation. It was a small, neat space, empty except for a richly pattered rug on the floor and a silver ball composed of mosaic glass that could be raised and lowered to eye level if one was sat on the rug._

_He'd spent hours in this room. Each day his instructors honed his psi abilities by breaking down ingrained neural patterns and then by rebuilding from the rubble. He learned to endure searing headaches as his mind was expanded in ways he'd never imagined. The training was everything that had been rumoured, and worse. By comparison, his first six months at the Time Academy, and that included the coursework on physical torture, had been a walk in a park._

_Jack watched as the memory him took his accustomed spot on the rug and closed his eyes as he'd been instructed. His mentors entered the room and looked down upon him._

_Sapphire's beauty stunned him anew. She wore her golden blonde hair loose so it skimmed her shoulders. She had high cheekbones, a luscious mouth, and curves in all the right places. Her eyes. Jack remembered her eyes. They were as vivid a blue as her code name. Her voice was warm and musical, even when she mind-spoke. She could manipulate time, which should have made her frightening, but in Jack she only inspired trust._

_Steel on the other hand … He was blond like his partner. But where she was warm, he was cold and detached. It made sense in a way. Two empathic agents would run the risk of getting lost in the emotions of their cases. Someone needed to stand a step apart and keep an eye on the bigger picture. That was Steel's job. He was the tactician. The hard man, who made the hard decisions. Though Jack towered over him, Steel had a physical presence that demanded obedience and a penetrating gaze that could stop him from questioning an order before he'd realised he had doubts._

_They disappeared again. Jack tried to follow, but they'd taken his vortex manipulator and he hadn't been taught how to travel by thought. But the message was clear, he needed to find them._

_He opened his mind, searched, and felt their presence. It was close. A new door appeared. When Jack tried its handle, he found it was locked._

_He smiled. This was one of their tests. He concentrated his mind energy, focusing his Intention to manipulate the lock's mechanism. It yielded and the door swung open._

_Space, the whole of the limitless void, stretched out before him._

_Jack cried out in a visceral display of frustration. He took a deep breath and let it out again, releasing his disappointment. He needed to be calm. He called out again, humbly, and prayed his message would be heard.  
_

***

They stood in the Chamber of Judgement. It seemed appropriate. Everything that came to pass was determined by decisions made among its towering pillars, now fallen and crumbling to ruin. It had been a bitter shock when after finally breaking free of the transdimentional space where they'd been held captive and returning to headquarters, they'd discovered the Time Agency disbanded and his fellow Transuranic Elements dead or worse. But as long as the two of them still stood, they were obligated to protect the integrity of the timelines. If they failed –

"Have you found him?" Steel knew he should leave Sapphire alone and let her work in peace, but he could feel in his bones that they were nearing a crisis point. He huffed an impatient breath as Sapphire's lips bowed into a ephemeral smile.

"I'm very close." She tilted her head and her expression became thoughtful. "Steel, it's almost as if … It's not possible."

"What's not?" 

Her eyes, when they opened, glowed vivid blue. Slowly they faded and she shook her head as if to clear it. "Steel, it felt as if he's reaching out. As if his will is seeking mine." 

Steel pressed his lips together in a flat line. "Impossible. We stripped those skills from his mind. He hasn't the power." 

_"He's found the power."_

Sapphire's pronouncement echoed in Steel's mind long after she closed her eyes and returned to the hunt.

***

Ianto figured the steam was finally getting to him. There was a sound, very faint, echoing on the edge of his consciousness. It was a sound he knew, but hadn't heard for a very long time. It was like breathing, if machines could breathe.

He opened his eyes and stared in disbelief as the old fashioned police box solidified, taking up the bulk of the sweat lodge's floorspace. His glance darted to Jack's face, but he was still tripping, oblivious to his surroundings.

On unsteady feet, Ianto rose. His clothes were a sodden mess where he'd piled them on the end of the bench, but he managed to pull on his shirt and keep a modicum of his dignity just as the Doctor popped out of the TARDIS. 

"Hello, Jones!" 

He looked much the same as Ianto remembered. He still had a young man's face full of whimsy and mischief, until one saw his eyes and realised they carried the knowledge of centuries. His method of dress hadn't changed either. He looked like every schoolboy's favourite slightly eccentric history tutor, as likely to impart trivia about tie dyed beards in the Elizabethan era as lecture on the Queen's accomplishments as a head of state. 

The Doctor took a deep lungful of scented air and immediately broke into a fit of coughing. He wiped his face on a large silk handkerchief and then gave Ianto an impatient look. "Why are you still sitting there? It's humid enough to wilt the tassel on my fez." He ran a long fingertip along the accoutrement's length and frowned at it. "And what's wrong with Jack?" 

Ianto opened his mouth to reply, but the Doctor cut him off. "Doesn't matter." He pulled an oblivious Jack to his feet and dragged him to the door of the police box. He leaned against it and gave Ianto another impatient look. "Come on, Ianto!" he said brightly. 

There seemed little to do but grab up the rest of his sodden clothing and Jack's towel and follow.

***

"It's happened."

Sapphire's quiet words had the weight of a death knell. Steel felt an unaccustomed tremor of fear roll over his mind, a reflection of the emotion Sapphire experienced. 

"Tell me." 

"Our apprentice has reopened the final door."

Steel stared at his companion, unsure he'd heard her correctly. "That can't be." 

"Our attempt to circumvent his destiny has failed. It's as Ruby foretold. With the knowledge he possess, and his inability to die, he'll walk among mortals as a god."

"The Universe is dangerous enough without one more god," Steel said grimly. 

"We have an opportunity," Sapphire replied. "Steel, he and the trickster have reunited." She got to her feet and placed her fingers against his temple as she opened her mind and showed her partner what she had learned.

***

Jack opened his eyes. He felt unsettled, small and insignificant against the vastness of the Universe. But at the same time he felt empowered in a way he'd never experienced.

"Ianto?" 

"Here, Jack."

Ianto's arms supported him as he sat upright and blinked the room into focus. He knew this place. Just as he knew all places. "We're on the TARDIS."

Ianto handed him a flask of water and helped him to drink. "The Doctor's between companions. He thought it was a good time for a catch up." 

The water was cold and sweet. Jack savoured it as it trickled down his parched throat. He felt like he'd travelled great distances. Nothing seemed substantial or real, and he wasn't sure if it was an effect of his healer's treatment, or down to some other reason entirely. 

He felt Ianto's worry. He could hear the questions he was dying to ask but kept to himself because he didn't want to push. _"I'm all right."_

Ianto cocked his head and his eyes narrowed. "Did you just say something?" 

Jack decided to tease. He knew he shouldn't but his new found abilities made him feel giddy and he couldn't resist. _"You're sexy when you're confused."_

Ianto gaped. "I heard that. I heard your voice in my head. Jack! When did you become a telepath?" 

Jack smirked. He thought them out of the medical bay and into one of the TARDIS' guest suites. 

Ianto looked appropriately amazed and stunned as they landed on the bed. "What did you just do?" 

Jack grinned at the room at large. Oh, the possibilities. "I remembered, Ianto." He laughed. "I didn't screw up." He rolled over and kissed Ianto soundly. There were dozens of questions bouncing around his head, but the relief he felt at discovering his memories hadn't been taken because he'd done something awful was visceral, and he wanted … no, he needed to celebrate the best way he knew how. 

"You didn't." Ianto was looking at him oddly. 

Jack reached out and touched his cheek. He smiled and thought reassuring thoughts. "They opened my mind, Ianto. They taught me the ways of the Transuranic Elements and then they took them away again. Yeah, they rejected me, but I didn't kill anyone. I didn't cause an intergalactic crisis or start a war. Don't you see?"

"No," Ianto replied. "But it doesn't matter, because you do." 

Jack basked in Ianto's absolute trust. He could sense his fears, and his questions. Both were understandable, but Jack would deal with them later. He reached for Ianto, and as he kissed him, he very carefully entered his mind.

***

"Are you ready?" Steel asked.

Sapphire shot him an unhappy look, but she nodded. Steel reached out his hand and placed it against her temple, linking their minds. 

They had one chance.

***

"So," the Doctor clapped his hands together and grinned manically as Jack and Ianto, dressed in clothing scavenged from the vast wardrobe, entered the console chamber. "Together again!" He darted towards them and peered myopically at Jack. "You've done something different." The Doctor frowned and poked Jack's temple. "You've flipped your switches. When did that happen? I want to hear all about it. But first. What do you say, Barcelona? We never did make it and I do recall promising." He darted away again, this time to the console, and started to feed in the coordinates.

There was an odd, humming noise and then the TARDIS reacted. She leapt out of normal space, and threw herself into the time stream. 

"Hang on!" the Doctor shouted. He threw switches and yanked a lever, trying to regain control.

The TARDIS lurched as the ancient ship fought the Doctor's instructions. Ianto lost his footing and tumbled across the deck. Jack let go of his own precarious hold and ran to his side. "You hurt?"

Ianto gingerly inspected himself for serious injury. He winced as he discovered a long scrape on his forearm. "I'll feel my bruises later." Jack started to help him to his feet, but before he made it as far as his knees, the TARDIS lurched again. "Can't you do something?"

Jack closed his eyes. He pressed his hand against the deck and projected calm, but the TARDIS was too frightened to hear him. He tried again, mind-speaking thoughts of love and reassurance. 

It was as if the TARDIS didn't know him at all. She rebuffed his attempts to soothe her and then blocked his mind from hers entirely. 

Gravity destabilised. They exchanged worried looks as the Doctor said, "Oh. This is not good." 

There was a gigantic shower of sparks from the central tower. A strange, agonised cry seemed to emanate from the soul of the TARDIS as she spun completely out of control. 

"We're breaking up!" the Doctor shouted.

Everything went black.

***

"It worked." Although the plan had been Sapphire's, there was regret in her tone. "The ship tried to escape, just as you predicted. She skimmed the gravitational field of a dark star. She managed to tear herself free, but not in time."

"You sound disappointed," Steel observed. 

Sapphire swayed from her efforts. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she reopened them, her expression was placid. "I regret loss of life, even when it's in the service of the greater good."

***

"What the hell just happened?" Gingerly, Ianto picked himself off the deck. The chamber was filling with acrid smoke and it was getting hard to breathe. Limping, he crossed to the Doctor and found him unconscious under a pile of debris. Desperately, Ianto flung bits and pieces of the TARDIS' bulkhead, chairs, and other odd bits clear of the Doctor. "Jack!" He tried to breathe as shallowly as he could, but coughed anyway on the fumes. "Help me!"

Jack rested his hand against the TARDIS bulkhead. His eyes welled up and tears began to trickle down his cheeks. "She's in so much pain." 

"Jack!" He flung the Doctor over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and stumbled out onto an undulating landscape covered with coarse black grass and rocky soil. 

He ran back for Jack. Jack fought him, clinging to the TARDIS as if his life depended on it. Ianto didn't have time. The deck under their feet trembled, and the air was hot enough to scorch the hair off his arms. He punched Jack in the jaw, knocking him unconscious, and carried him, as he had the Doctor, bodily to safety. 

He took a great gulping lungful of cool air and was belatedly grateful that they hadn't crashed on a planet with a methane atmosphere or into the sea that shimmered in the distance. The ground under his feet shook as if the TARDIS' impact had spawned a minor earthquake. 

Ianto cast a backwards glance and swore. A great plume of energy spewed forth from the roof of the police box. The TARDIS was going to explode and if he didn't put some distance between them and it, they were going to go with her. 

He shouldered Jack once more and carried him behind an outcropping of rock. It wasn't much protection, he thought as he dumped his partner rather unceremoniously onto the dirt, but it was the best he could do on such short notice. He doubled over and did what he could to catch his breath, but the trembling was getting stronger and the Doctor still lay exposed and vulnerable, too close to his ship to survive the inevitable blast.

Ianto ran. Too much to do, no time to do it, he thought grimly. He darted out of the safety of the outcrop and stared. A man and woman had the Doctor propped between them. "Over here!" he cried and took cover as the TARDIS erupted.

***

"Did you have to hit me?" Jack opened his mouth and gingerly stretched his jaw. "That's gonna leave a hell of a bruise."

"Sorry." Ianto "You were out of your head. You didn't leave me much choice. How are you?"

"Sore." Jack winced as he rubbed at his cheek. "In shock. Of all the people I ever expected to run across again, those two would be at the top of the list. But I guess I should have known." His gaze travelled to the couple who stood apart from the rest. 

"Fate?" Ianto suggested. 

"I guess," Jack grumbled. He didn't sound happy at all. "I suppose I should be polite and say 'hello'." 

As if they were aware of Jack's intentions, two blond heads turned nearly simultaneously. 

"I thought you were dead. I'd say I was pleased you're not," Jack drawled as he approached. "But that would be a fib." 

"You're angry," Sapphire said. There was no rancour in her tone. 

"You think?" Jack snapped back. He pointed at the TARDIS still spewing her life energy in a golden plume. "Look at her! Look what you've done!" 

"It was necessary." Steel's biting tone was like a bucket of ice water. "You made it so."

"Me?" Jack went toe to toe with his old mentor. "How the _hell_ is this my fault?"

"You could could possess one or the other," Steel said. "The connection to that vessel or the training we gave you. Not both."

"By unlocking your potential, you sealed her fate," Sapphire added. 

Jack's eyes dipped to the ground. "That's why you rejected me and kicked me out of the Time Agency? That's why you left me with a hole in my memory?" 

"We delayed, but could not prevent, what was foretold. I am sorry." Sapphire's eyes reflected her regret.

***

"She's dying." Tears ran down the Doctor's face as he stroked the battered police box. The spill of golden energy that had poured forth like the flame of a Roman candle had diminished as spectacularly as it had begun. Now only small tendrils of sparks danced like fireflies on the breeze. "My oldest friend and companion. What am I going to do?"

His face, normally so young except for his eyes that betrayed his many centuries, crumbled in sorrow. 

Jack darted forward, reading the Intention in the Doctor's sorrowful thoughts. Ianto followed, close on his heels. Between them they grabbed the Doctor and pulled him clear of the TARDIS. "Oh, no. No way, Doc. Not yet. The Universe still needs you." 

"But I don't need it!" the Doctor wailed. 

_"He's right, you know."_ Sapphire mind-spoke, echoing Jack's protest.

Raw anger and bitter sorrow poured off the Doctor in waves so incandescent Jack wanted to cringe away lest he be burnt by them. He was reminded of another incarnation of the the Doctor, the one whose icy heart was melted by a young girl named Rose. She had stood by him then. He would stand by him now. Love demanded it.

"This is your fault!" the Doctor yelled. 

"No, Doctor. If you examine the web of time you can see the events that brought us here." 

Steel's voice was cold. Bitter cold. Steel always was an emotionless bastard, Jack thought. But he wasn't. "Take care of him." He shoved the Doctor into Steel's arms and darted towards the TARDIS. _"I love you, Ianto Jones!"_ Jack poured all the emotion he could into his thoughts, knowing the words would pale by comparison.

"No!" Ianto cried out. "Jack!"

Jack ignored Ianto's plea and yanked open the police box's door. He ran inside and blocked it with wreckage to prevent the others from interfering. 

"Okay, baby, it's just you and me." He cleared the panel and opened the hatch revealing her heart. He held out his hand, feeling the faint throb of energy that was on the verge of ebbing away entirely. "Take it. Take it, baby. We both know you want to." 

He closed his eyes and willed the life essence from his body. His skin began to tingle. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end. He reached out and opened his heart and his mind to the living machine. 

A faint trickle of golden light emanated from his fingertips. He surrendered his will and filled his mind with thoughts of love. "This is my gift to you. Take it, baby, please. For him, take it back. I don't need it any more." 

He started to feel warm and as if he were floating, held up by the waters of a gentle sea. Calm flowed over him. Everything he had been had led him to this moment. This was Destiny. And for once, Jack embraced it. 

He thought of Ianto and knew, after he got done being angry, that he would understand. They had talked about what Jack would do after age caught up, as it inevitably would. Ianto wanted him to go to the Doctor and become his companion because he knew the Doctor would keep him amused and distracted and not let him grieve too long. But without the TARDIS, there would be no Doctor. Jack hoped that Ianto would follow the course he'd outlined. He knew Ianto had come to respect the Doctor. He hoped, in time, he'd love him as Jack did. 

Jack heard a noise. He listened harder and realised the faint sound was that of a voice singing in his head. 

"That's right, you beautiful girl. Sing me to my rest." 

Jack felt different. Lighter. The weight of ages fell from his shoulders. The TARDIS' song was louder now. He smiled as he slipped to the deck. His final mission was complete.

***

Ianto watched the golden glow that enveloped the TARDIS fade, taking Jack's life with it. He wrenched out of the Doctor's grasp and ran to the police box, yanked open the door, and shoved away the makeshift barricade. His heart hammered and fear made his steps unsteady as he saw Jack lying on the deck.

"No. Oh please, God, no." Tears streamed down his face. He brushed fitfully at his cheek as he dropped to Jack's side and gathered him into his arms. 

"Jack! Jack!" Ianto felt for a pulse. His own heart was beating so hard, and his hands trembling so badly, he couldn't check for life signs. Gently he laid Jack's body down again, took a deep, calming breath, and then struck it hard on the chest as he willed his partner's heart to beat. 

"Ow!" Jack's eyes fluttered open. He smiled wearily up at Ianto. "Hey, Tiger. Take it easy." 

"You're not dead! Thank God. You're not dead!" 

"Not dead." Jack reached up and eased Ianto's fall as he collapsed in relief on top of him. "Only resting." He closed his eyes, secure in the knowledge that everything was going to be all right.

***

"You two have some explaining to do." The Doctor had found his fez. Jack reclined on a folding beach lounger scavenged from the wreckage the TARDIS had shed when she was in distress. Ianto sat close by. He touched his partner every so often, in a casual way, as if he couldn't quite believe his eyes.

As for Sapphire and Steel, they sat, quite prim and properly at table, drinking tea from mismatched china cups. 

"We?" Steel sounded quite dismissive. "We were fulfilling our mission by breaking a link that should have never been forged, and righting a timeline right that had become quite unstuck from the natural order." He tipped his chin at the couple sitting apart from them. 

"Oh, you mean, Jack." The Doctor gave the former Time Agents a boyish pout. "You know, I never could quite figure out what to do about him. You see the TARDIS promised Rose, and once the old girl gets something into her head, well – " He shrugged as if there was no point delving further into the matter.

"They're talking about you," Ianto said softly. 

Jack glanced over at the others before his gaze returned to Ianto. He shrugged. "The Doctor couldn't fix me, but they could." He shook his head, still amazed by the latest turn of events. "They were the best of the best in their day, it just goes to figure. "

"Your missing two years?" Ianto asked hesitantly.

Jack squeezed Ianto's hand. "Are missing no more. I was in training to be one of them. Right before I was due to be inducted, another Elemental, one good with timelines, read me. What she saw scared them. The abilities of a mind expanded to its full potential coupled with my inability to stay dead? No one should have that kind of power." Jack grinned ruefully. "Not even me. So they tried to change my fate." He shrugged. "I guess it worked. I still lost the ability to die and eventually I got my memories and my skills back, but they happened at different points in my life. So instead of becoming a god among men, I'm just – " 

"If you finish that sentence with 'God's gift to you.' I'll cut you off for a month," Ianto threatened, although his eyes danced and there was no malice in his tone.

"It's true," Jack replied, unwilling to concede the point. He projected a very lascivious image to demonstrate just what Ianto would miss out on if he made good his threat. 

"Point taken." Ianto smiled a private smile and ran the tip of his tongue over his lips, but then his expression sobered. "Jack, these new abilities of yours – " 

"I'm told unless I practice, they'll fade." Jack shrugged. "It's okay. I don't mind. _"Although if you don't object to the mind-speak, I know one or two other tricks that we can try."_

Ianto smiled that private smile again. "Even after all this time, I do love the way you think."

Jack glanced over at his former mentors and the Doctor. "The Doctor will have his hands full with Sapphire and Steel as companions. It'll probably do Steel some good. He always did need to loosen up, and Sapphire and the TARDIS will get on like a house on fire." He shook his head, bemused by the strange pattens that composed his life and then blinked back tears as if the enormity of the situation overwhelmed him afresh. 

"Hey. I know it's a lot to take in." Ianto tried to push back a smile and failed. 

"What?" Jack mock-scowled at Ianto. "Ianto?"

"I'm sorry, it's just I never really pictured us growing old together. And now all I can imagine is you and me, shaking our sticks at the neighbour kids treading on our garden." 

"That's a long time off. You're only what?" Jack squinted for a few seconds, trying to remember Ianto's age. "Two hundred and ninety?"

"Two hundred and ninety three," Ianto replied, a little stiffly.

"Well, you don't look a day over forty, and neither do I. The Doctor says we'll both have another forty or fifty years apiece if we're careful. You can do a lot of living in a half century." 

Ianto's expression turned thoughtful. "Jack. I know we talked about it ages ago, but how would you feel about going back to Earth. Settling down for good this time?"

"Maybe even start a family?" Jack suggested. 

Ianto pursed his lips, considering. "Why does that sound like the biggest adventure yet?" 

Jack shrugged. "Because life with me is never boring?"

Ianto chuckled. "That must be it." 

Jack tipped his head towards the others. "Do you suppose they'll mind the detour?" 

"Detour?" 

Jack nodded. "We talked about this once, remember? We'll need to go to a surrogacy centre that's used to dealing with male pregnancy." Jack leaned forward and kissed Ianto softly.

"And the adventure begins," Ianto dead-panned as they parted. He held out his hand to Jack. "Come on. Let's go share the happy news."

End


End file.
